Cyber Security - Stuxnet virus could target many industries

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By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON – A malicious computer attack that appears to target Iran's nuclear plants can be modified to wreak havoc on industrial control systems around the world, and represents the most dire cyberthreat known to industry, government officials and experts said Wednesday.

They warned that industries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the so-called Stuxnet worm as they merge networks and computer systems to increase efficiency. The growing danger, said lawmakers, makes it imperative that Congress move on legislation that would expand government controls and set requirements to make systems safer.

The complex code is not only able to infiltrate and take over systems that control manufacturing and other critical operations, but it has even more sophisticated abilities to silently steal sensitive intellectual property data, experts said.

Dean Turner, director of the Global Intelligence Network at Symantec Corp., told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that the "real-world implications of Stuxnet are beyond any threat we have seen in the past."

Analysts and government officials told the senators they remain unable to determine who launched the attack. But the design and performance of the code, and that the bulk of the attacks were in Iran, have fueled speculation that it targeted Iranian nuclear facilities.

Turner said there were 44,000 unique Stuxnet computer infections worldwide through last week, and 1,600 in the United States. Sixty percent of the infections were in Iran, including several employees' laptops at the Bushehr nuclear plant.

Iran has said it believes Stuxnet is part of a Western plot to sabotage its nuclear program, but experts see few signs of major damage at Iranian facilities.

A senior government official warned Wednesday that attackers can use information made public about the Stuxnet worm to develop variations targeting other industries, affecting the production of everything from chemicals to baby formula.

"This code can automatically enter a system, steal the formula for the product you are manufacturing, alter the ingredients being mixed in your product and indicate to the operator and your antivirus software that everything is functioning as expected," said Sean McGurk, acting director of Homeland Security's national cybersecurity operations center.

Stuxnet specifically targets businesses that use Windows operating software and a control system designed by Siemens AG. That combination, said McGurk, is used in many critical sectors, from automobile assembly to mixing products such as chemicals.

Turner added that the code's highly sophisticated structure and techniques also could mean that it is a one-in-a-decade occurrence. The virus is so complex and costly to develop "that a select few attackers would be capable of producing a similar threat," he said.

Experts said governments and industries can do much more to protect critical systems.

Michael Assante, who heads the newly created, not-for-profit National Board of Information Security Examiners, told lawmakers that control systems need to be walled off from other networks to make it harder for hackers to access them. And he encouraged senators to beef up government authorities and consider placing performance requirements and other standards on the industry to curtail unsafe practices and make systems more secure.

"We can no longer ignore known system weaknesses and simply accept current system limitations," he said. "We must admit that our current security strategies are too disjointed and are often, in unintended ways, working against our efforts to address" cybersecurity challenges.

The panel chairman, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said legislation on the matter will be a top priority after lawmakers return in January.
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Cyber Security - U.S. Warns Of 'Huge' Cyber Threats

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Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are monitoring Stuxnet worm and China, among other critical infrastructure risks.

By Elizabeth Montalbano , InformationWeek

Officials from the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security (DHS) this week warned that the prospect of a cyber attack remains imminent even as their agencies continue to monitor threats to U.S. critical infrastructure.

More Government Insights

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said the future threat of a cyber attack is "huge," while there is a "considerable current threat."

"That's just the reality we all face," he said according to a transcript of his comments.

He said the DoD thinks it has adequately secured the .mil domain but is working to protect U.S. partners in the defense industrial industry so they are shielded.

National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center

Gates added that the DoD's recent agreement with the National Security Agency to work together more closely on cybersecurity also should help the federal government protect its websites from intrusion.

His comments came only a day before a report by a congressional commission unveiled that China Telecom diverted traffic for 18 minutes in April from U.S. government sites -- including those from the .mil and .gov domains -- away from normal traffic routing and through servers in China.

While the annual report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission said it could not determine what China was doing with the traffic, a report by Northrop Grumman prepared for the same commission last year said that China is likely using the Internet to spy on the U.S. government in preparation for a future cyber attack.

If China isn't enough to worry about, there is also Stuxnet, a complex computer worm, which was discovered in July when it was believed to be targeting Iranian power plants.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs convened Thursday to discuss how to protect U.S. critical infrastructure in light of Stuxnet.

Testifying before the committee, Sean McGuirk, acting director of the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center at the DHS, said that federal officials have considerable concern about Stuxnet because of the unique nature of the threat it poses.

Stuxnet, unlike other computer worms, is highly complex, containing more than 4,000 functions, which is comparable to the code in some commercial software, he said, according to a transcript of his testimony.

The worm also is difficult to detect because it "uses a variety of previously seen individual cyber attack techniques, tactics, and procedures, automates them, and hides its presence so that the operator and the system have no reason to suspect that any malicious activity is occurring," McGuirk said.

DHS officials also are concerned that the underlying Stuxnet code could be adapted to target a broad range of control systems -- such as the electricity grid and power plants -- in "any number of critical infrastructure sectors," he added.

To combat Stuxnet, the DHS has been analyzing and reporting on the worm since its detection and has briefed dozens of government and industry organizations, as well as advised the control systems industry about how to detect and mitigate an attack

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Cyber Security - America's Achilles Heel - Threatens People and Corporations

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For over 15 years I have been writing about the Internet and cyber security, in particular the sorry state of cyber security on the Internet. During that time internet theft, hacking and multi-billion dollar business losses have become the cost of doing business in our modern world.

The dot.com bust of 2000, just ten years ago, demonstrated how the booming Internet was way over-valued by the greed mongers on Wall Street and in less than two years Internet companies lost an astonishing 78% of their valuation sending many an investor in hot Internet stocks to the poor house.

It was the first real sign of the immaturity of the Internet corporate culture. After ten years of progress the business plans and expanded use of the Internet have been apparent, but the evolution of cyber security has been dismal. While processing power and software sophistication has been leaping generations ahead in recent years, computer security through legacy systems, those that have been around for years, remain stuck in first generation technology trying to meet a need far beyond the capabilities of the past.

The Internet, with it's lack of government regulation and no borders, has become the premiere and preferred method of crime in the 21st century extending from no holds barred pornography to forced child prostitution, from stealing music and movies to raiding bank and credit card accounts, from stealing proprietary corporate information to hacking into top secret government files.

So complete is the saturation of crime into the Internet that it reigns supreme in terms of bank, credit card and cell phone theft, pornography and child slavery, prostitution and illegal gambling, theft of music and movies to pedophiles stalking our children. Yet there have been no real innovations in computer security for nearly a decade. Then again, the legacy security providers are making billions of dollars selling virtually obsolete cyber protection so why would they change?

As General Motors and anyone involved long term in technology knows, the minute you rest on your laurels and rely on products of the past to meet future needs you become a technology Neanderthal.  Like GM, you then fall from number one in the world into the throes of bankruptcy.  In the world of cyber security, if you rely on older systems to meet new technological advances you become victims of the cyber criminals who have stayed one step ahead of existing security systems.

Are you or your children safe on the Internet? Of course not. Can you be safe with the right cyber security? Of course not if it is a legacy system because it is like trying to play a digital download on an old cassette recorder. Legacy systems were the first generation security and they are now technically obsolete. But there are new generation security systems coming to the market that are designed to meet your needs of the future, not just the past.

Using fascinating new technologies to enhance the stealth or invisible appearance of your records and personal information, using algorithms never before in existence and incredible cloning techniques that may only be found in the most technologically advanced intelligence and defense security systems, there is hope for internet users, especially the unsuspecting youth who have become obsessed with the Internet.

We have been made aware of impending announcements of historical new achievements in Internet or cyber security that will finally make the protection of computer users the first consideration instead of the last consideration in the evolvement of computer technology. You should watch for these announcements and check them out as it may finally give you the piece of mind that big brother and the cyber thieves may no longer control the Internet as our dependence on the Internet continues to grow at warp speed. There are new ways of protecting your rights and records on the immediate horizon.
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The Wall Street Near Melt Down - Was It Greed, Manipulation or Cyber Attacks?

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Yesterday I was watching CNBC when in a six minute span the economic world nearly collapsed and then slowly made it's way back from the precipice of catastrophe to settle at a loss of 347 points. It was amazing how the stock market gurus once again totally lost control of the world financial markets, only this time in just six minutes, and then breathed a sigh of relief that we only lost a half a trillion dollars in value in one day.



Let me put that in a form you might understand. Let's say the foundation of the market is 7062 which is the market low during the recent recession reached in February 2009. That was down from a high of 14,161 in October 2007. That means 7062 is the modern foundation of the market, as low as it goes without a depression. This was after the housing, banking, auto and insurance collapses.

When the market opened yesterday it was at 10,868, a decent recovery from the low a year earlier. About 2:46 pm it was down about 300 points, a rather precipitous drop for the day. In the next six minutes the floor fell out from under the market as the Dow dropped 998.50 for the day, the largest one day drop in history. It happened so fast the trading machines could not keep up with the panic.



That means there was a 26% loss of the increased value of the stock market since it hit bottom in February a year ago. Six minutes and a 26% loss, which equaled over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS! If you were standing in front of your house and instantly over one fourth of your house disappeared, only to have a little over half of the loss reappear during the next 90 minutes, would you feel good about it?

Wall Street thinks we should feel good only part of the house disappeared. They think we are fortunate the loss for the day was only about half a trillion dollars rather than one trillion. I say they are nuts. These are the same people who failed to see the recession coming. The same people who lost over half of the value of our 401k and other retirements funds. The same ones who cost us over $6 trillion in home equity between 2007 and today.



What they aren't telling us is who profited from this market manipulation. It certainly did not just impact on the stock market. Someone, you listening Obama, needs to check the pattern of manipulation in currency and commodities markets as the stock market was having a bout of temporary insanity. Someone made billions if not more money in those few short minutes and the politicians better find out who.

As of today's open, the Australian dollar, the euro and the Canadian dollar are all down 4% over just two trading sessions. The Swiss franc is down 2.5%. The yen is up almost 5%. None of that is close to normal market volatility. In the commodities market gold is up a staggering $40 during the same period. Billions of dollars were made in these transactions, by whom? All the media attention was on the stock market but the big bucks were made in the currency and commodities markets.



Even the drop in oil futures has been breathtaking. Oil futures reached a high for the year just Monday and then dropped $9 a barrel since. Remember, in this day of no morals or ethics in the economy the big boys make just as much profit when commodities lose value as when they increase in value. Goldman Sachs is one of the masters at oil price manipulation. There is absolutely no justification for oil reaching new highs earlier this week as demand is down, inventories are up and the future world recovery is weak.

So far no one on Wall Street or in the Regulatory offices is taking the responsibility or blame. Of course not. Besides, it wasn't their money they were losing, it was ours. However, this is a clear case of the extreme vulnerability of the markets to cyber attacks. When you become dependent on machines and the market trading is driven by machines, and when you require the Internet to make sure the greedy money from all over the world can get into the market instantly, then hacking into such a system with today's lack of cyber security is child's play.



Why no one in the media or Obama administration is discussing the potential for a cyber attack as the cause of the massive market disruption is beyond me. Cyber security is the greatest threat to our financial system, far greater than the greed of Wall Street. Today such security does not exist. Just ask any intelligence agency because all of them including the Department of Defense have had their secure systems hacked.



Wake up Washington, the dangers to our financial system are only just becoming obvious. Did we forget that Osama Bin Laden once said bring down the financial system and you bring down America? Both the criminal networks and terrorists have recruited the best cyber minds in the world, not to mention foreign governments who would love to see American capitalism collapse, and their primary target in the world is the American economy. If we remain asleep at the switch much longer the train wreck they could cause in our economy could be far more powerful than any car bomb or limited nuclear attack.

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